Ezekieli 15
1 Neno la Bwana likanijia kusema:
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 “Mwanadamu, je, ni vipi mti wa mzabibu unaweza kuwa bora zaidi kuliko tawi la mti mwingine wowote ndani ya msitu?
“Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest?
3 Je, mti wake kamwe huchukuliwa na kutengeneza chochote cha manufaa? Je, watu hutengeneza vigingi vya kuningʼinizia vitu kutokana na huo mti wake?
Do people take wood from a vine to make anything? Or do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it?
4 Nao baada ya kutiwa motoni kama nishati na moto ukateketeza ncha zote mbili na kuunguza sehemu ya kati, je, unafaa kwa lolote?
See! If it is thrown into a fire as fuel, and if the fire has burned both of its ends and also the middle, is it good for anything?
5 Kama haukufaa kitu chochote ulipokuwa mzima, je, si zaidi sana sasa ambapo hauwezekani kufanyishwa chochote cha kufaa baada ya moto kuuchoma na kuuunguza?
See! When it was complete, it could not make anything; surely then, when the fire has burned, then it still will not make anything useful.
6 “Kwa hiyo hili ndilo Bwana Mwenyezi asemalo: Kama nilivyoutoa mti wa mzabibu miongoni mwa miti ya msituni kuwa nishati kwa ajili ya moto, hivyo ndivyo nitakavyowatendea watu waishio Yerusalemu.
Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Unlike the trees in the forests, I have given the vine as fuel for fires; I will act in the same way toward the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 Nitaukaza uso wangu dhidi yao. Ingawa watakuwa wameokoka kwenye moto, bado moto utawateketeza. Nami nitakapoukaza uso wangu dhidi yao, ninyi mtajua kwamba Mimi ndimi Bwana.
For I will set my face against them. Though they come out from the fire, yet the fire will consume them; so you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.
8 Nitaifanya nchi kuwa ukiwa kwa sababu wamekuwa si waaminifu, asema Bwana Mwenyezi.”
Then I will make the land into an abandoned wasteland because they have committed sin—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.”
